St. Landry democrat., 1887-07-16


opening see on his face supernatu-
raj ioy, ard bow before him, and say
Aged man, how can you keep cheerful
amidst all this gloom?" His voice star
ties the darkness of the place as he cries
out: Il am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand"
Hark what is that shuffling of feet in
the upper dungeon? Why, Paul has an in
vitation to banquet, and he is going to
dine to-day with the King. These shuff1ing
feet are the feet of the executioners They
come, and they cry down through the
hole of the dungeon Hurry up, old
man. Come now; get yourself ready"
Why, Paul was ready. He had nothing
to pack up. He had no baggage to take.
He had been ready good while. | see
him rising up, and Strengthening out his
stiffened limbs, and pushing back his
white hair from his creviced forehead,
and see him looking up through the hole
in the roof of the dungeon into the face
of his executioner, and hear him say: 81
am now ready to be offered, and the time
my departure is at hand" Then they
lift him out of the dungeon, and they
start with him to the place of execution.
They say: Hurry along, old man, or
you will feel the weight of our spear.
Hurry along" How far is it," says
Paul, eve have to travel?' Three
mi es Three miles is a good way for
an old man to travel after he has been
whipped and crippled with maltreat,.
ment. But they soon get to the place OF
execution-Acqua Salvia-and he is
fastened to the pillar of martyrdom. 1t
does not take any strength to tie him
fast. He makes no resistance. . paul !.
why not strike for your life !?
You have great many friends
here. With that withered hand
lust launch the thunderbolt of the people
upon those Infamous soldiers. No !!
Paul was not going to interfere with his
own coronation. He was too glad to go
| see him looking up in the face of his
executioner, and, as the grim official
draws the sword, Paul calmly says: Il am
now ready to be offered, and the time of
nv departure is at hand" But put my
hand over my eyes. l want not to see
that last struggle. One sharp, keen
stroke, and Paul does go to the banquet,
and Paul does dine with the King.
What a transition it was! From the
malaria of Rome to the finest climate in
all the universe-the zone Of eternal
beauty and health. His ashes were put
in the catacombs of Rome, but in. one
moment the air of Heaven bated from
his soul the last ache. From shipwreck,
from dungeon, from the biting pain of
the elmwood rods, from the sharp sword
of the headsman, he goes into the most
brilliant assemblage of Heaven, king
among kings, multitudes of the saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth
hands of welcome; for do really think
that as on the right hand of God is
Christ, so on the right hand of Christ is
Paul, the second great in Heaven
He changed kings likewise. Before
the hour of death, and up to the last
moment, he was under Nero, the thick
necked, the cruel-eyed, the filthy Tipped;
the sculptured features of that man
bringing down to us to this very day
the horrible possibilities of his nature
seated as he was amidst pictured marbles
of Egypt, under a roof adorned with
mother-o in dining-room which
by machinery was Kept whirling day
and night with most bewitching magnifi-
cence; his horses standing in stalls of
solid gold, and the grounds around his
palace lighted at night by its victims, who
had been daubed with tar and pitch and
then set on fire to illumine the darkness.
That was Paurs king. But the next.
moment he goes into the realm of Him
whose reign is love, and whose courts are
paved with love, and whose throne is
set on pillars of love, and whose sceptre
is adorned with jewels of love, and
whose palace is lighted with love, and
whose lifetime is an eternity of love-
When Paul was leaving so much on this
side the pillar of martyrdom to gain so
much on the other side, do you wonder
at the cheerful valedictory of the text:
"The time of my departure is at hand?'
Now, why cannot all the old people of
this congregation have the same holy
glee as that aged man had? Charles |,
when he was combing his head, found
gray hair, and he sent it to the queen as
a great joke; but old age is really no
joke at ALL For the last forty years you
have been dreading that which ought to
have been an exhilaration. You say you
most fear the struggle at the moment the
soul and body part. But millions
have endured that moment, and why not
we as well? They got through with it,
and so can we. Beside this, all medical
men agree in saying that there is probably
no struggle at all at the last moment-not
so much pain as the prick of a pin, the
seeming signs of distress being altogether
involuntary. But you say, 1T is the un-
certainty of the future" Now, child of
God, do not play the infdel After God
has filled the Bible till it can hold no
more with stories of the good things
ahead, better not talk about uncertainties.
But you say, II cannot bear to think
of parting from friends here" If you
are old, you have more friends in Heaven
than here Just take the census. Take
some large sheet of paper and begin to
record the names of those who have emf
grated to the other shore-the compan-
ions of your school days, your early bus
mess associates, the friends of midlife,
and those who more recently went away.
Can it be that they have been gone so
long you do not care any more about
them, and you do not want their society?
Oh, no! There have been days when
you have felt that you could not endure
it another moment away from their
blessed companionship. They have
gone. You say you would not like to
bring them back to this world of
trouble, even if you had the power.
1t would not do to trust you. God
would not give you resurrection power.
Before tomorrow morning you would
be rafting at the gates of the cemetery,